Project PACE

Project PACE (Participation And Cooperation in Education) is a prevention program designed to prevent the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs by providing a series of intensive interventions to at-risk fourth grade students and their families. The program uses individual, family and school interventions to increase protective factors and reduce risk factors. The program includes family activities, in-home family meetings, weekly student groups in school, individual student meetings with a prevention specialist, field trips and cultural events, weekend retreats, overnight summer camp, and recreational, community service, and social activities for students. Parents are encouraged to participate in student events, attend parent education group meetings, and utilize counseling, casework, and referral services for employment, education, and financial needs.

The goal of this program is to prevent alcohol, tobacco and drug use.

The evaluation used a true experimental pretest–posttest control group design. Sixty-four at-risk multicultural youths (and an equal number of control youths) were randomly selected from a pool of current third graders in Huntington, N.Y. The youths were identified and ranked according to risk factor scores. Program youths and families received the intensive services of the PACE program for 1 year. Both students and their families reported feeling that the PACE program was beneficial to the students. Although analysis from the evaluation suggests mixed results, several outcomes from participation in the program were favorable. A positive impact was made on reducing sixth grade absences. Low-risk participants showed increased self-esteem and negative problem behaviors for the high-risk group decreased. The control group reported substantially more beer use on the posttest.